Bail for containers



Dec. 27, 1949 4 .1. COYLE ET AL BAIL FOR CONTAINERS Filed Jan. 15, 1947 HlHlHlllllv DU mm 9% 744m, wjmirywwx Patented Dec. 27, 1949 UNITED STATES PATENT] OFFICE BAIL FOR CONTAINERS John Coyle and William F. Punte, Baltimore, Md., assignors to Continental Can Company, Inc., New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application January 15, 1947, SerialNo, 722,140; "1 Claim. (01. 220-94) The invention relates to new andiuseful improvements in a bail for a container which may be readily shipped with containers and attached thereto by the retailer for the customer's use.

Heavy products such as paints and the like are packed in metal containers wherein an end member is secured to the body wall of the container by a double seam which overhangs the body wall sufficiently to provide a retaining shoulder for a bail attaching means.

An object of the present invention is to provide an attaching band for a bail which band can be easily and firmly secured to the container beneath the double seamed shoulder and which band and bail can be readily placed, before attaching to the container, in flat longitudinal assembled position for shipping purposes.

In the drawings, which show by way of illustration one embodiment of the invention:

Figure 1 is a view of the upper end of a container showing the improved bail attaching means applied thereto;

Figure 2 is a plan view of the band and bail in assembled position for shipment and before the attaching means is applied to the container;

Figure 3 is an edge view of the same;

Figure 4 is a sectional view on an enlarged scale on the line 44 of Figure 1, showing the band for supporting the ball as applied to the container and engaging beneath the double seamed shoulder; and

Figure 5 is a sectional view through the bail and the attaching means, the section being taken through the pivotal support for the bail and with the bail in upright carrying position.

The container to which the bail is shown attached is of the usual form. It consists of a body portion l to which an end member 2 is secured by a double seam 3. This double seam 3 is of the usual type and includes the interfolding of the flange on the closure member 2 and the flange on the body wall I. The double seam overhangs the body wall 1 providing a shoulder 4.

The bail attaching means includes a metal strip 5 which is preferably flat and of thin metal so as to reduce toa minimum the cost of the bail attaching means. This metal strip is provided at one end witha slot 6 which extends transversely across the end of the strip. At the other end of the strip the metal is cut and raised so as to pro vide an ofiset-tongue 1. The ofisetting of the tongue provides a shoulder 8. This strip may be placed around the container and the tongue I inserted throughthe slot 6, as shown in Figure 1. The strip or band is so dimensioned that when the tongue isinserted through the slot and drawn up against the shoulder 8, then the band is firmly secured to the container and it will rest against the double seamed shoulder 4, as shown in Fig ures 4 and 5 of the'drawing's. The band at diametrically opposite points is offset outwardly, as indicated at 9. The offset portion is perforated, as indicated at Ill. A rivet l l is inserted through the perforation l0 and the inner head I2 of the rivet is housed in the recess formed by the outwardly offset portion of the band. The bail for carrying the container is in the form of a thin strip of metal indicated at l3 in Figure 2 of the drawings. Said strip midway between its ends is offset as indicated at l3. This inwardly offset portion reinforces the strip and serves as a handle portion for the bail. This bail strip is provided with a slot M in each end thereof. The slotted end of the bail strip is placed over the rivet l l and then the rivet is provided with an outer head l5.

The band, as noted, is formed of thin metal, preferably no thicker than the wall of the container. The double seam extends beyond the wall of the container not only the thickness of the body wall but also twice the thickness of the metal forming the end. The band therefore when snugly contacting with the body wall is disposed inwardly from the extreme outer parts of the double seam. The purpose of providing the band with offset portions 9 is to provide a housing for the head of the rivet and also to permit the bail to be attached to the band so that it will pass and contact the double seam without being flexed to any great extent (see Figure 5). The slots 14 in the bail are for the purpose of permitting the bail to be placed in flat assembled relation with the band before the band is attached to the can and for shipping purposes. The bail should be of a length so that when attached to the band it will swing down over the double seam for nesting purposes when stacking containers with bails attached or when the container has been opened for access to the contents. When the bail is made of sufflcient length to fold down over the double seam in the manner just referred to, then the length of the ball from one pivot joint to the other is necessarily greater than the semi-circumference of the container from one rivet to the other. These slots permit. however, the bail to slide on the rivets, as shown in Figure 3, until the bail lies parallel with the band and is thus nested flat against the band, although not directly in contact with the band except at the offset portion. When the band is attached to the contamer,- then the band is shifted along the pivots to bring the pivots to the outer ends of the slots and this will give sumcient length of bail so that it can easily be folded down over the double seam.

It is customary to ship cans after they have been filled and closed in crates and with each crate is sent a bail for each container in the fiat assembled condition shown in Figure 2. The retailer can readily attach the band to the container just below the double seam and when it is attached, then the container is equipped with a bail by which it may be carried.

It is obvious that minor changes in the deformed by the double seam joining the end of the body, a slot and tongue means for joining the ends of said band, said band having outwardly ofiset portions at diametrically opposite points, each ofiset portion being perforated, headed pivots passing through said perforations and extending outwardly from the band, and a fiat metal bail having slotted end portions slidingly engaging the pivots, said slots being dimensioned and positioned relative to the pivots whereby the bail prior to an attachment to the container may be nested flat against said retaining band tailed arrangement of the attachment of'the bail to the retainer band may be made without-de= parting from the spirit of the invention asset forth in the appended claim. "It is essentialyhowever, that the bail and band shall besoattached that they may be placed in fiatassembledrela' tion for shipment and readily attached to a correncircle --th'e container beneath the shoulder for shipping purposes. JOHN COYLE.

WILLIAM F. PUNTE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file'iof this patent:

UNITED STATES 1 PATENTS Number Name Datefjg 334322 Alston Jang26, 1886 71,646,537 Hurley Oct. 25, '1927 

